


Alliances

by Aodhan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Faction Alliance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6076773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aodhan/pseuds/Aodhan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starting after the events on Ziost, ignoring parts of the kotfe story so far because I can; focused mostly on my SW and JC and taking down the dude who seems to like eating planets a little too much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alliances

**Author's Note:**

> A huge, huge thank you to both [pomegrenadier](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pomegrenadier/pseuds/pomegrenadier) and [Lordpasta](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LordPasta/pseuds/LordPasta) for helping me in making this actually readable. You guys are the best <3

Phena had managed to keep herself together for quite a while, despite the helpless anger raging inside her, tearing at her composure. She had gone through the debriefing with Lana, made sure that her crew was okay and the ship intact. She even boarded a shuttle back down to Ziost to see for herself what had happened and it had taken every ounce of self-control she possessed to not throw up at the empty void she felt.  
There was no life on this planet anymore. No sign of the Force. Just nothingness.  
Cold. Gray. _Dead._

All the way back to the Fury, she had been trying to block out the thoughts that came creeping back to her as soon as she was forced to stay still. And when she reached her quarters a message awaited her on her datapad.

 

“ _We have lost much this day._

_Think on what happened on Ziost, and what it means for our future._

_Then prepare.“_

There was no need for it to be signed. It was obvious that Marr had sent this piece of cryptic nonsense. She did not know what he and the Dark Council were planning to do now, but with his words in mind, she would not wait around to find out. She couldn't just do nothing at all - not while outright terror was keeping her in its grasp.  
Not while there was a monster loose in the galaxy and the Empire crumbling.  
But was there even anything they could do, by themselves? This was a power none of them had ever dealt with.

Putting the datapad away she stood, curling her hands into fists for a moment. If she went through with what she had in mind, she would commit high treason. Emperor or not, she was quite sure that the Council would not appreciate her plan, to put it lightly, but there was no time for hesitation. She stepped out of her quarters probably looking more confident than she actually felt and went up to the bridge, where Quinn was busy with - something, as usual.  
She knew in moments like this it was more of a coping mechanism than being productive, though. Taking off one of her gauntlets, she stepped up to him, lightly placing her hand on the man's shoulder

“Are you alright?“, she asked softly, but he just answered with a slight shrug.

“I'm not sure if that is possible, my lord.”

“...please don't 'lord' me, Malavai, not now of all times.” Phena let her hand slip down his arm and gave his hand a small squeeze. He finally looked up, horror still etched into his features.

“What we witnessed today...”

“It was terrifying beyond words, I know. But if there were any doubts remaining about Vitiate’s intentions...he made himself very clear today.” She leaned against her husband and waited until he gently wrapped his arms around her to continue. “He must be stopped. At all costs.” She could feel Malavai take a deep breath.

“He will still be after you, love.”

“If I don’t aggravate him any further Vitiate won't touch me just yet. He made me his personal treat to devour when everything else is destroyed.” She looked up, her Force-burned eyes, dulled by the day’s experiences, meeting her husband’s. “I won't let him. He destroyed Ziost just to show us that he could, but we simply cannot let him go on like this...”

There was silence for a few moments, barring the constant hum of the Fury’s systems.

“You have a plan, don't you? And-” Malavai looked down on her for a moment, studying her face, “-I assume I will not like it.”

“You  know me too well.” She stepped back and turned to the consoles, staring at the map of the galaxy before her. “I need to contact a Republic vessel.”

\---

The Defender had still been in docked at the Ilum orbital station when she felt it. Millions of lives violently torn from the Force. So far away and yet a sensation powerful enough to bring her to her knees, clutching at the walls for support. For the first time in her life Cerulian felt truly blinded, lost in the storm howling through the Force. It made it hard to orientate herself when there was nothing but screaming, the death of a world silently raging through space. White noise was all she could see, hear and feel while she tried to catch her breath through the chaos until it was over as suddenly as it had begun.  
She slid to the floor, every muscle in her body shivering and the air around her aching with loss. What had just happened?

Once she got her breathing under control, she tried to concentrate on her bond with Nadia, focusing on her Padawan's Force signature until it calmed down enough to not be worrying. She was okay, if badly shaken. Cerulian was glad that Zenith had accompanied the young Jedi to the planet’s surface. He would make sure that they both got back on board unharmed.  
The rest of the crew should not have been affected by this, though she would not have been surprised if Qyzen's instincts had picked up that something was wrong as well. The Trandoshan never ceased to surprise her.

With a relieved sigh she ran a hand through her hair and carefully started towards the bridge. She needed to find out exactly what had happened - and her hands had barely touched the consoles when the holo began beeping and Kira’s frantic face appeared in front of her, interrupted by static.

“We need help, please, I don't know what to do, where are you?” Panic surged towards her through the Force, making her feel unsteady again.

“Calm down.” She lifted her hands in a pacifying motion. “Kira, I can barely understand you. What happened? Was it the disturbance?”

The other woman looked to be on the verge of tears and roughly tore a hand through her hair.  
“It's Ziost. The disturbance, I mean. The Sith Emperor...he killed the whole planet!” Kira's hand wandered towards her stomach as if she felt physically sick. “He didn't just kill the people. The planet is like a giant void in the Force, he drained everything-” She stopped herself and tried to hold back an exhausted sob. “We were there, Shamira and I, we tried to find the Emperor, to find a way to defeat him, but...we just don't have a chance. We never did!”

Cerulian stepped closer to the holo. This was far worse than she had feared.

“Are you alright - Did you get out alright? All of you?”

“We're alive, at least.” The other Jedi sighed, sounding defeated. “But something is wrong with Shamira. When the disturbance hit, we were on the orbital station and she just started screaming and I couldn't help her, I was just too overwhelmed...and...now she's just shaking and...she isn’t reacting to anything. As if she's...not really here? Please, I don't know what to do...”

“It's alright Kira, we'll make sure she gets better, she will be fine, I promise. Get to Voss as fast as you can and get in touch with Gaden-Ko. We will be there as soon as possible.”

The call ended abruptly and Cerulian let herself sink into the pilot’s chair. She needed to breathe for a minute.

 

Everything she had feared seemed to become a lot worse a lot faster than anticipated. Her friend would be her first priority for now, but Shamira would get better again eventually. She would make sure of that, and the Mystics on Voss would too.  
And if she needed to hide the other Jedi from the Council, then so be it. Maybe it was time to let them know just how many members of their order had suffered for their oh-so-noble goals. And if Voss wouldn’t do - well, she wasn’t Barsen’thor for nothing.

She had plenty of allies willing to help her.


End file.
